The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Vaccinium hybrid (Southern Highbush Blueberry), which has been given the variety denomination of ‘C95-12’. Its market class is that of a fruiting plant. ‘C95-12’ is intended for use as fresh fruit for shipping, customer pick and processing markets and as a home garden plant.
The new Vaccinium hybrid cultivar is a selection resulting from seedlings grown at Corindi Beach, NSW, Australia from seed extracted from fruit produced during a controlled breeding programme of Vaccinium at Gainesville, Fla., USA in 1993 from a cross of seed parent ‘F93-29’ (unpatented) and pollen parent ‘F84-35’ (unpatented). The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single plant within a population of plants of Vaccinium hybrids in 1995 in a commercial field plantation environment at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia with final selection after confirmation of traits in 1997. Selection criteria was a combination of strong plant growth vigor, lateness of ripening, good fruit flavor, large fruit size, firm fruit suited to handling, attractive dark blue fruit color and small picking scar. The selection was subsequently evaluated for a number of years at the commercial farms at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by cutting propagation since 1995 at Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia and has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation. The new variety has been primarily compared to the variety ‘Southern Belle’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,931). In Corindi Beach, New South Wales, Australia the plant growth habit of ‘C95-12’ is ‘upright to bushy’ whereas the plant growth habit of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘upright’. The plant growth vigor of ‘C95-12’ is ‘strong to very strong’ whereas the plant growth vigor of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘weak to medium’. The time of vegetative bud burst of ‘C95-12’ is usually ‘medium to late’ whereas the time of vegetative bud burst of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘late’. The fully developed leaf length of ‘C95-12’ is ‘medium’ (mean 50 mm) whereas the fully developed leaf length of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium to long’ (mean 57 mm). The fully developed leaf width of ‘C95-12’ is ‘broad’ (mean 34 mm) whereas the fully developed leaf width of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’ (mean 28 mm). The fully developed leaf attitude of ‘C95-12’ is usually ‘horizontal’ whereas the fully developed leaf attitude of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘acute’. Corolla ridges are absent on flowers of ‘C95-12’ whereas corolla ridges are present on flowers of ‘Southern Belle’. The time of beginning of flowering of ‘C95-12’ is ‘late to very late’ whereas the time of beginning of flowering of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘late’. The time of fruit ripening of ‘C95-12’ is ‘late to very late’ whereas the time of fruit ripening of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘late’. Berry cluster density is dense on ‘C95-12’ whereas berry cluster density is medium on ‘Southern Belle’. The depth of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘C95-12’ is ‘shallow’ whereas the depth of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’. The diameter of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘C95-12’ is ‘very broad’ (mean 9.1 mm) whereas the diameter of the calyx basin on a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is ‘medium’ (mean 4.9 mm). The sweetness of a berry of ‘C95-12’ is rated as ‘strong’ whereas the sweetness of a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is rated as ‘weak’. The acidity of a berry of ‘C95-12’ is rated as ‘medium’ whereas the sweetness of a berry of ‘Southern Belle’ is rated as ‘weak’. This combination of fruiting attributes results in ‘C95-12’ being a more suitable variety for commercial and home garden use than ‘Southern Belle’.